A nation is a social and cultural community of people who share a common identity based on factors such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, and often a shared territory. It is a group that sees itself as a cohesive unit with a sense of belonging and common purpose
. Key characteristics of a nation include:
- A collective identity or national identity formed through shared cultural or historical experiences
- A sense of unity and oneness among its people, often linked to a particular territory considered their own
- Nations are socially constructed and can be flexible and change over time
- A nation may or may not correspond to a formal political entity or state; some nations exist without having their own sovereign state (e.g., the Kurds or the Jewish nation before the state of Israel)
The concept of a nation differs from a state , which is a political and legal entity with defined territorial boundaries, a government, and sovereignty recognized internationally. While a state governs a territory, a nation is primarily about the people and their shared identity
. In summary, a nation is a people united by shared cultural, historical, or ethnic ties and often linked to a specific territory, but it is distinct from the political and legal structure of a state
